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Vasco Strada
Vasco Strada is a former Exorcist and wielder of Durandal said to be closest to the original wielder Roland. He was also ranked as the second-highest official in the Church as Cardinal Priest. Appearance Vasco is a 2-meter elderly man. He has white hair and his face has wrinkles on it; similar to that of a normal elderly. Although Vasco is already old, his body is that of an extremely muscular man. He has a thick neck, thick chest, thick arms, and legs that have the same girth as Issei himself. In comparison to Xenovia wielding Durandal that looks way bigger than her, the Durandal seems small when it is in the hands of Vasco. He wears priest vestments. Personality Vasco is an extremely gentle and compassionate man. Even though he was a former exorcist, he has shown no lingering hatred to the Devils and Fallen Angels after the treaty. He also cares for the sake of everyone; not just the exorcists that rebelled but also everyone involved in the alliance. Vasco was immensely respected by the people of the church due to his immense compassion and powerful strength as shown in Volume 19 when the exorcists who rebelled shed tears when Vasco intended to sacrifice himself for the exorcists to find closure from their past. Cao Cao has noted that Vasco, as one considered to be a hero, is similar to Issei. History When Vasco was still an exorcist, he was able to defeat and corner Kokabiel during the Second World War. At some point before Asia's banishment from the Church, Vasco met Asia. He also tried to save Asia after he heard the news of her being banished but was too late. He was also, at some point, offered by two of the Four Great Seraphs Uriel and Raphael to be reincarnated as an Angel and be a part of their Brave Saint system but refused as he wanted to die as a human. Plot The Legend of Oppai Dragon and his Lively Companions Vasco was first introduced in Volume 19 when he delivered a letter of challenge. Issei was unable to do anything as he was unable to move just by Vasco placing his hand on his shoulder; attesting to Vasco's power. He gave the letter of challenge to Rias and left right after. The fight was set up to take place in a replica of the Kuoh Town in an artificial dimension created by Rossweisse. Vasco, along with hundreds of exorcists, was up against the Gremory Team sans Yuuto, Saji, and Arthur Pendragon. Before the fight started, Yuuto and Irina arrived inside a bubble created by Dulio Gesualdo that has an effect to make people that made contact with the bubble remember things important to them. This made the exorcists lose their fighting spirit and was unable to fight but not Vasco. The group engaged against Vasco but they were unable to do anything against him as they see all their attacks blocked. Irina's sword was blocked by using two fingers, Yuuto's holy-demonic sword was caught and crushed by his bare hands, Rossweisse's magical attacks was easily nullified by altering the magical calculations, was able to overwhelm Gasper Balor, cut the lines and cage Saji made in his Balance Breaker, block Issei's punch in his Crimson Armor, cut five of Akeno's Raikōryū in half by using the holy wave of the Durandal replica and needed twenty layers of Rossweisse's barriers to fully stop the holy wave, Xenovia's attacks using the combined abilities of Ex-Durandal were blocked, and lastly, cut Rias' Extinguished Star in half. Arthur then proceeded to fight against Vasco and he was able to fight evenly against him albeit both are not fighting seriously. After a short skirmish, they both stopped with Strada apologizing to Arthur and Arthur saying that if Vasco was twenty years younger, they would've had the best fight. After Vasco's fight against Arthur, Xenovia pushed forward again but this time, she's dual-wielding Durandal and the True Excalibur, heeding the advice Vasco gave her. Vasco and Xenovia clashed head-on which resulted in Vasco's defeat due to exhaustion from his old age. Before Vasco was teleported away for interrogation, he gave Asia an envelope that contains letters from the people that she healed when she was still considered a holy maiden. Then, he reunited Yuuto with a person from his past, Tosca. Vasco told him to take care of her. Lastly, he gave a piece of the original Holy Grail to Azazel. In Volume 20, it is revealed that despite his role in the Church warriors' rebellion, many members of the church advocated for him due to his many meritorious deeds before the alliance was created. So he is under house arrest, living on a farm in Italy with a barrier surrounding it. He is visited by Cao Cao, who asks him what it means to be a hero. After hearing Cao Cao's words, Vasco laughed and told him that he was too young to claim to be a hero. Vasco then proceeded to explain that the people decide who is a hero. He ended the conversation by saying that he cannot win against someone who is loved. In Volume 21, Vasco and his followers joined the battle against Qlippoth's army taking place at the coastal waters of Japan killing a Grendel clone and many other Evil Dragons with his Durandal replica. Red Dragon Emperor of the Blazing Truth × White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star: The True Dragon(s) of the Kuoh Academy In Volume 23, Vasco joins Rias' peerage as her Rook for the Rating Game World Tournament where Rias, with Valerie's help, provides him with a much younger body through the power of the Sephiroth Graal, Demon God Balor, and Koneko's senjutsu, as well handing him a new sword: Durandal II. In Volume 24, Vasco paid a visit to the Hyoudou Residence when all the parents and guardians of Issei's current fiancees were discussing plans for their respected wedding ceremonies, where he stated to Issei that he will be the priest at their wedding. Rias then announced to everyone that he will be part of her peerage in the Rating Game World Tournament. In the next match, Rias' team faced off against Vali's Team, during which Vasco's age had been previously reverted to his 50s which he claims to be his prime. Vasco easily overpowered Vali, Bikou, Gogmagog, and Fenrir until Arthur stepped in to fight him one-on-one in a sword match while expressing a grin of delight on their faces. Both swordsmen held out for a while, but Vasco's attacks nearly depleted Arthur's stamina as he kneels down every time he blocked his sword, even when he used his sword technique to strike at him via portals created by Caliburn, Vasco was still able to avoid each blow. While Vasco complimented Arthur's skills as a swordsman, he also lectures how they've been tainted by a slight sense of vanity. Refusing to give up, Arthur channeled holy aura into his blade again and let loose a holy wave. However, this move was canceled by Vasco's Holy Fist. Believing that he will most likely lose this fight, Arthur still wished to continue to give all he had for the remainder of it. Vasco then headed to Rias' location to assist her after Arthur had collapsed on the ground from exhausting his stamina and the rebuilt Gogmagog had come after her. As he charges up his Holy Fist for the Golem, Rias had reached her limit and was unable to avoid the clash of Vasco's attack, so under Gasper's warnings, Rias had to surrender the game before Vasco could strike. In Volume 25, Vasco took part in the training session held by Ajuka Beelzebub along with his team and Issei’s team. During the training in the Beelzebub game, Vasco became fond of social network games and received five-star characters which amazed everyone and together with Lint climbed up a mountain. After the girls talked about Issei, Vasco became pleased and called them youths which he considered beautiful. Vasco celebrated at the Hyoudou Residence with his team and the rival teams after passing the preliminaries. Vasco reappeared in True Volume 1, when the group discussing the unknown devils and he gave out his three opinions regarding them and one correctly believing that the mother of devils Lilith is involved. When Rias believed Lilith was destroyed in the legend, Vasco came to suggest that history can be altered like the example of Agares. Later Vasco to assist the sword group of the Gremory team against the devils and easily defeat a devil with his holy fist continued to defeat the other devils with punches. After Nyx was defeated, Vasco and his team traveled to the Agares territory for the tournament announcing the next matches and learned their next opponent is Issei and his team. In True Volume 2, Vasco appeared in Issei’s dream of him marrying his brides and gave his blessings to Issei and his wives. He and his team and with Issei’s team watched the Rating Game match between the two Hindu gods Indra and Mahabali, with Indra winning the match after striking his lightning on his opponent. Later Vasco and his team arrived at the Oppai Dragon Stadium in the Gremory territory for their match against Issei and his team. During the match, Vasco was already in his prime state and was confronted by Xenovia and Irina, and they began their battle, with Vasco effortlessly managed to push back the duo even with Xenovia using her Crimson Destruction Dragonar armor and destroyed it with his Durandal II and holy fist. As Xenovia and Irina were doing a combination attack on Vasco, he increase his aura and wave his Durandal II and holy fist in order to blow them away and told Xenovia and Irina to show him what she learned at the church. The duo was joined by Ouryuu Nakiri and the three of them began attacking Vasco and he deflected their attacks with his Durandal II, but they managed to break Vasco’s finger when it was twisted in the wrong direction, and he destroyed the earth cage with his holy fist that was made by Ouryuu to seal his body and his left ring finger was broken when Xenovia fired her Durandal bullets, which Vasco founded interesting and increased the aura of his Durandal II to fired it at Xenovia and she poured all of the remaining Red Dragon Emperor’s power into Durandal and Excalibur to block the attack. As Xenovia used her Cross Crisis, Vasco heightened the aura on his Durandal II and tried to counter the attack, but he was stopped by Irina and Ouryuu who rendered him immobile was bombarded by Xenovia’s Cross Crisis and Irina’s countless light bullets and was sent flying back into a building to increase their damage to him. Vasco fired his holy aura that formed cracks all over the ground and enveloped himself a unfathomable aura as he showed his broken Durandal II, calling it inevitable as he told the trio the real match starts now. Vasco couldn’t finish his fight with Xenovia, Irina, and Ouryuu because Issei defeated Rias in their fight, he picked up his broken part of Durandal II and told them he’s dropping early from this tournament and urged them to keep going and told Xenovia that he’ll strive so he can live thirty more years and she’ll come and challenge him again. Vasco and the team celebrated at the Hyoudou Residence for Issei and his team’s victory and was Yuuto about what he’ll do from now on, which he revealed he’ll stay at Kuoh Town because he senses a disturbing atmosphere until the tournament is over, and they later watched the match between Team Babel Belial and Black Satan of Darkness Dragon King, with Diehauser emerging victorious. Powers and Abilities Natural-born Holy Sword Wielder: Vasco is a natural-born Holy sword wielder. *'High Durandal Compatibility:' Vasco has an incredibly high level of compatibility with the notoriously picky Durandal. His compatibility is so great that some theorize that his ability to use Durandal surpasses that of Roland, the original wielder of Durandal. Immense Exorcist Skills: Vasco is an extremely powerful exorcist, being able to slay even the most powerful of Devils by relying solely on his own skills, as seen by him being able to defeat Kokabiel, a Fallen Angel Cadre, in his youth. According to Rias, even the current Satans (including Super Devils Sirzechs and Ajuka) feared Vasco in his prime. Even in his old age, he remained immensely powerful he held the upper hand against the Gremory Group consisting of Issei in his Cardinal Crimson Promotion and Saji in his Malebolge Vritra Promotion. After he was restored to his prime, Vasco overpowered Vali in Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive, Bikou, a weakened Fenrir, and Gogmagog singlehandedly. Immense Combat Skills: Ever since he was a young exorcist, Vasco possesses tremendous skills in both armed and unarmed combat. Azazel mentions that he almost defeated Kokabiel during World War II. He single-handedly took on several members of DxD with minimal effort and could fight on par with Arthur, both an immensely strong and skilled master swordsman, which in the end goes in the favor of team DxD because he lost a lot of stamina which was due to him taking on the entire team alone. * Master Swordsman: Vasco is an extremely skillful master swordsman able to overcome master swordsmen like Kiba and Xenovia with minimal effort. Using the Durandal Replica, he was able to bisect Rias' Extinguished Star, a highly destructive technique even for the tough scales of Evil Dragons, and fought on par with Arthur Pendragon who is a tremendously skilled master swordsman who also wielded Caliburn, the Strongest Holy Sword. * Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Vasco is also a skilled master hand-to-hand combatant whose skills are also further supplemented by his immense physical abilities, as shown when he could block Irina's Hauteclare with his fingers, caught and crushed Yuuto's Sword of Betrayer just by gripping it, and threw extremely powerful punches that could destroy buildings simply from the shock-wave generated from his fists. Rias even noted Vasco's hand-to-hand combat prowess is on par with Sairaorg's, a Devil who is an extremely powerful martial arts master. Immense Strength: Vasco has tremendous physical prowess due to having gone through constant training in his youth. Even as an old man, his punches are as powerful as Sairaorg's despite the former being a human. During his initial encounter with the Gremory Group, he was able to stop Issei by merely placing his hand on his shoulder using enormous pressure. Vasco was able to swing the Durandal Replica using enough force to match the speed of Kiba with even Ewald Cristaldi, a strong exorcist in his own right stated that he was a true monster. Bikou even compared his strength to the First-Generation, Sun Wukong and Vasco overpowered Bikou and Gogmagog, then countered the golem's rocket punch using a single punch. Upon being restored to his prime, he had sequentially overwhelmed Gogmagog, Bikou, a weakened Fenrir and Vali in his Balance Breaker even breaking his silver-white armor. Vasco's anomalous strength even terrified some of the Gods in the Rating Game. He is regarded by many as the strongest human being. Immense Durability: Vasco was able continuing to fight after take many attacks from Ouryuu in his dragon form and earth manipulate, Irina countless light bullets and Xenovia Cross Crisis technique, as result into crashing to a building. Immense Speed: Vasco is shown to be extremely fast, able to catch Devils and Angels by surprise despite being a human and of senior age. In Volume 24, after returning to his prime he displayed enough speed to leave behind afterimages and outmaneuvered Vali in his Balance Breaker. Immense Stamina: Vasco has massive stamina; despite being an 87-year old man, his physical abilities have not been tarnished. Instead, he remained just as strong as ever able to fight against the extremely powerful Gremory Group without tiring out, however, his stamina has notably been depleted compared to his youth, as evident as he showed signs of fatigue after a short battle with Arthur Pendragon. Sacred Fist: Vasco is able to fuse holy power into his punches, letting him damage beings that are weak to holy energy even without the use of holy swords. Augmented with his tremendous physical strength, he can cause an immense amount of damage to Devils. Magic Neutralization: His immense experience and knowledge born from his years of fighting against Magicians and those who use magic, letting him locate even the tiniest flaws in his opponents' magical attacks and lets him neutralize them via the application of brute force to very specific points on the magic attack. Magic: Vasco can use magic to store away Durandal II in another dimension and summon it back when he needs to use it. Flight: During the events of volume 20, Vasco demonstrates the ability to stay afloat in mid-air. Equipment Durandal Replica (デュランダル・レプリカ, Dyurandaru Repurika): In Volume 19, Vasco was given a replica of the original Durandal by the Pope. As it is just a replica, it only has one-fifth of the power of the original. But even though it's just a replica, Vasco was able to draw out its maximum potential; demonstrating the ability of Durandal to cut everything without exception. Durandal II (デュランダルII, Dyurandaru II): This is the newest version of the holy sword created by the Vatican, which has a blue blade and an aggressive aura. Durandal II is an evolution of the Durandal Replica that he used against the Gremory Group and Arthur, and it was made so that he can display his sword skills, which were once called a "living miracle" one again. Rejuvenation Concoction: This is a concoction that was created for Vasco using the joined powers of Valerie's Holy Grail, Gasper's Balor Power, and Koneko's Senjutsu (Touki). This lets him return to the age where he was at his prime, letting him display immense strength and skill. Quotes *(To everyone):"Now, the supernatural races will have a video recording of this. In the past, the Devils who stood above high-class Devils and all of the abnormal existences would only have appeared in rumors or legends. It was the first time that they had been seen, and no one knew how to respond. But if a recording of a battle is left behind, regardless of whether they're a Heavenly Dragon or something else, there will now be evidence. All that's left is to feel that aura on an actual battlefield." (Light Novel 24, Life.4 Vasco Strada and Crom Cruach) Trivia * Vasco is the oldest known human in the series. *Vasco is a Spanish name whereas Strada is an Italian name, so this suggests Vasco is Spanish-Italian. **Vasco means "crow" and Strada means "spread out, extend". These two meanings could very well be a reference to the fact Vasco can fly. *Vasco Strada refused the offers to become the Ace of two out of the Four Great Seraph, Uriel and Raphael because he wanted to die as a human. If he had accepted, then he would've become one of the Strongest among the Brave Saints. *Vasco is listed among the strongest humans, along with Arthur, Tobio, Cao Cao, and Mitsuya. *Vasco wants to give his blessings as a priest at each of Issei's wedding ceremonies, as it would give him great satisfaction to do so. References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Human Category:Exorcist